Avatar: The Struggle of Duyi
by KikuMizu
Summary: After Avatar Korra came an earth bending avatar. With great luck, this new avatar is born into high-class society but is the disappointment within his family. He is not a horrible bender, dumb or ugly but...
1. Prologue

Prologue

My name is Duyi, meaning independent wholeness. I was born right after the last avatar, Korra, had died. She fought quite a few battles in her time so I was born in a time of peace. Of course, no one would find me right away but because of Avatar Aang's life and Avatar Korra's upbringing, the search because frantic and earlier than they usually tested. Just before I could walk, in fact, there was a tester. I don't remember him but I know I was passed over because I am still here, at home with my family.

My mother is a daughter of a well-known earth bender who, unfortunately, cannot bend herself. She is a very pretty woman and apparently looks a lot like my great grandmother, except the eyes of course. Other women flock to her lead like they would die without becoming her shadows. She is not an easy woman to find fault in but there are times I feel sorry for her. Though having sons brings honor to a woman's family, she has no daughter to share her intimate feminine secrets with and every so often, I know that is why she stares out the window as if in dreams of what could have been.

My father, to everyone's surprise, became a fire bender. With his mother a normal woman, great grandmother seems to be the cause. She never married officially but I have heard it said that all four of her children were from the same father, a fire bender of slight noble status she met on one of her lone journeys. Either way, my father is a formidable man and though most would never think of crossing with him, I remember him as being a very tender-hearted man especially in our younger years.

Then there are my brothers. The first is my brother Honghui. The difference between us is nearly ten years, my parents having started early and decided to wait a while before trying again. He shocked my parents at his coming of age by renouncing his right as heir to the family business but it wasn't surprising to everyone else. He spent a lot of time with our great aunt and now works in Republic city, upholding order. Every word sent to us is dripping with justice and heroism.

After me is my year-younger brother Delun. My parents were so happy to see him into this world and haven't stopped showering him with praise since. I am not saying I am jealous of him, for I like being left alone and in the back ground, but I am afraid he has developed quite a head over it. Though heroic like our eldest, he has this glimmer in the back of his eye that says he knows exactly what his actions mean and what will come from their fruition. He has not done wrong by me but then again, I haven't gotten in his way to find out what he would do.

And at last the baby, my brother Enlai. He is three years younger than me but because of his early interest in mathematics and business, he is being raised as the heir, Delun being raised to be a general. His earth bending skills are poor but that just makes mother coddle him more and shield him from her overbearing father. Out of all my brothers, he is the one I get along with the best, perhaps because he hadn't learned how to treat me like others do. I am the only person he becomes quiet around and I am usually free to give him a well-earned distraction from his studies. He is also very good at baking, though where he learned it from I haven't quite figured out.

So where do I fit in this whole picture? Well, I am the second son and unfortunately the biggest disappointment in the public eye. Actually, sometimes I wonder if the only reason I am even in the public eye is because my coming was such big news to outsiders who had thought Honghui was going to be their only. It is not because I am stupid, unskilled in bending, or ugly. I actually think I am rather smart for being able to follow Enlai's homework, I am just as skilled in my bending in my brothers if not a bit more, and if I am ugly, then so are my parents. No, it happens to be something out of my control, something I was born with.

Simply put, I am deaf.

Well, to say I don't hear anything at all would be an understatement. When I was younger, I could hear really loud noises such as cannons firing, fireworks in the sky, and a tutor's books when he or she was trying to get my attention. Earth bending had also been a solstice for my hearing as well. But always I have heard the voices of the dead oh, I mean spirits. Sometimes they have filled me in with what others are saying around me and sometimes they just tell me their opinion. Wait, no, I take that back: they always tell me their opinion.

Though I cannot hear my mother's voice or the music played at parties or the sound of giggling coming from behind a fan or sleeve of a woman, I can hardly say I am without something important in life. My great grandmother had a similar difference: she was blind but she overcame it with her own power and found her own ways to work around it. It is my greatest dream to also forge my own path with my own strength and prove that I am just as capable as my brothers. But you are probably wondering why being deaf would be such a problem in a family my size. It all deals with our family legacy.

My family name is Bei Fong.


	2. Chapter 1

At birth

The Bei Fong house was a blur one fall evening as maids rushed to take care of their lady struggling in childbirth. It wasn't her first but her first in a long while and the entire city of Gaoling was awaiting the child with enthusiasm. Even the young master, Honghui was eager to see his new sibling's face. Unfortunately, he was made to wait down the hall, where his mother's cries would be less severe. Some of his caretakers were trying to distract him with play but being ten years of age, he wasn't fully engrossed.

His father was holding on to his wife's hand, dreading every moment the grip became tighter and tighter. He wished, just as much as everyone else in the room, for a healthy child, preferably a boy. But as his wife's pain dragged on, he didn't care what it was so long as it came.

Close to half past nine, the new life came. It was greeted enthusiastically by the midwives, judged to be healthy by the woman in charge of the entire affair, and already receiving some loving stares from its parents.

The head midwife pointed out the obvious. "A healthy boy. Hear how he cries for his transition into this new life is over."

He was just like his older brother had been: just as loud, just as pink, and just as small. One of the other midwives took him to wipe him off as the head took care of the mother. Soon the child was within his mother's arms and being cooed. His father was beaming over his wife's shoulder. It was a happy-looking picture for a good long moment.

But the baby kept crying. No matter how much he was soothed, he just wouldn't stop. Fearful of her baby having been possessed, she handed him over to the head midwife in hopes that she had the answer. She assured her right away that possession was just a bunch of nonsense and laid the baby on the table nearby. Skin contact seemed to sooth the tiny one but she wanted to find out the cause. She checked his very new eyes by making a mean-looking face and he cried. She checked his rump and back for bumps but found none. She checked his ears by snapping beside them, hoping to get him to turn his head.

"What is wrong?" her lady called from behind. She did her experiment from top to bottom once again to be sure. "What is it?"

With a heavy heart, the midwife turned and handed the baby back. "Gently rub him; he likes skin contact."

Her lady let out a small laugh. "Is that all?"

The midwife hung her head. "No, my lady."

Her eyes snapped onto her trusted woman and held her breath for the rest.

"I am afraid that little one cannot hear."

It would take more than a night to absorb what was being said but in that moment, everyone in the room had felt they had failed. It was after a long silence that a knock was heard at the door.

It was Honghui. "Mother, may I come in and see? Is it alright now?"

Whispers could be heard as his caretakers were still trying to get him to return to the room he had been waiting in. But the boy had been waiting for hours and wasn't going to wait much longer.

His mother knew how much he had been looking forward to the event and couldn't bear to say no. Now that the baby was quiet, she felt that no matter how sad of thought it was, she could hide it from him for a moment, to see the joy which should have stayed on all their faces once more.

"Come in," she called.

The young master nearly leaped into the room and gladly went up to his mother's side to see. His expression was priceless.

"What is it?"

His mother couldn't find her tongue so his father answered. "A boy."

A grin flashed. "Great," he touched him lightly on the cheek with his finger. "That means I can play with him, right?"

A silence followed and he began to notice everyone else's face. He knew something was wrong but he couldn't find it in the adorable face.

His mother broke the silence. "He won't be able to hear you."

It took but a moment for the boy to decide what he should do. To confirm what his mother said, he yelled a head's space away from the younger's face, "Good evening! Welcome to the world!"

The baby didn't stir.

Though every adult was in gloom, Honghui didn't seem to think it was that big of a problem. "Well he will still be able to bend, right? He doesn't need to hear to do that."

It was the most optimistic part of the baby's next five months.

(Break)

The Bei Fong household seemed to recover from Duyi's disability with the hopes of him becoming a great bender like his great grandmother. Inside, his parents felt sorry for him and what his life would become but otherwise, they outwardly showed no discontent. As if in their misery, they had their son Delun in which all the hopes and dreams they had for children of the Bei Fong family were doubly place in repentance. And with Enlai following there after, the family seemed more than complete.

All the boy's education began the same way. As soon as they were able to walk, their grandfather began to teach them earth bending the best he could. When they were three, they were expected to have learned to read and were then started on other subjects. The only hiccup was Duyi.

Without being able to hear, the household thought he would be dim and treated him as such. He was shown countless characters against their roots in the world so he could learn how to read. Though they had done this since he was a year of age, they didn't think him ready for school until he was five, nearly six. Already behind, his tutors began at a normal pace until his parents caught them and told them to teach him slower so he would understand.

That changed when Honghui had his coming of age and announced his plans. Then his education was purely bending and etiquette based, for bending was the only thing he seemed to be good at. He had his grandfather's approval but what he wanted was his parents', mainly his mother's.

It was when he was eight when he found what he could do to make his mother smile.

Playing in the large courtyard with his two brothers, Duyi was paying attention to one thing: the ball. He made sure his eyes were always on it and the way under his feet was clear. He was good at ball games because all he needed to know was whether he had to get the ball or whether it would be passed to him. This time, it was a passing game where all three of them were running and trying to trip up the others by faking passes and changing direction. Dulen passed him the ball after quite a bit of zig-zagging around bushes and Duyi caught it, his next few moves already planned.

But his brothers stopped and began running back to the main house. He turned around and saw their mother, relaxing at the edge with prepared afternoon snacks being placed next to her. He excitedly ran back. As usual, their mother paid attention to the other two first but after some cuddling, they formed half a circle around her and she looked at all of them with the same motherly affection. Usually, Duyi would let them talk and then smile the best he could as his mother handed him his snack and all of them could go sit in front of the television but an idea occurred to him.

The spirits were unusually quiet for once and he thought that if the spirits made noise, then it probably came from the same place as the living. He had tried to read his family's lips before but he knew the sound didn't come from the lips. It came out there so what if the cause was just farther down. Staring at his brothers' throats, he saw it. Something was moving up and down.

So, because the curiosity had built to be too much, he reached over and touched Delun's. He stopped but not before Duyi found his answer. His face broke out in a smile immediately and in confusion, his brother turned and complained to the only person who could get him to stop. He felt it, he knew the word: Ma. If anything, he was able to read that from everyone's lips, even the floor-scrubbing girl as her mother came to walk her home after work said it.

He felt his mother gently touch him to pull his arm away and Delun forced his hand off. Overjoyed, Duyi immediately tried what he had learned. Making the noise was a bit hard but with his hand on his own throat, he made it out.

"M-ma. Ma. Mamamamamama."

He would never forget the look on his mother's face as she was close to tears and sobbing with joy as she pulled him in for a hug. Her smile was especially bright and would continue to be as he called for her with his unbearable word and as he learned new ones, no matter how simple. He was still considered duller than unpolished iron but as long as he achieved that smile, it didn't matter.


	3. Chapter 2

2

_I had known I was the avatar for a long time. When my brothers showed me the story in the book, I later experimented in my room. Water bending just came to me as easy as Honghui had made reading for me. Wind was something I could feel nearly every day so after a little prompting, it came to me as well. Fire? Well, not so much._

_The spirits helped me the best they could by teaching me or finding me departed masters that hadn't found rest as of yet. All the fire ones told me I was missing that inner spark that would set me ablaze so until I revealed myself, I wasn't going to get any help with it. Why didn't I ask my father or reveal myself straight away, you might ask. Well, being the avatar seemed to feel like I could trump others, gain their respect without trying and that would diminish my brothers' talents. I wanted their futures assured before I began my own and I wanted to do it with my own strength, not the strength of the other legacy I carried._

It was dark and well past reasonable times for bed when Duyi began his nightly adventure outside of his family compound. He was still too short to climb over on his own so he used a corner to volley himself up, not wanting to risk exposure by bending his way out. So long as he didn't come out near the front entrance or during the watch change, he wouldn't be spotted. It only took a month to time it perfectly so he would get up and leave before the guards began their move.

Once outside the wall, he calmly made his way to edge of town. He was constantly looking around for anyone following him or who would spot him but only drunkards were the ones active at that time of night, bumbling on like the ground was full of pitfalls. Looking at them, he really didn't want to drink more than a necessary glass, as he had to when he became of age later. A couple of dog-cats and cat-birds were his only company in the late hours and they kept him safe in silence as he passed through.

The spot he went to for bending was a clearing just at the edge of the city. It was more than wide enough for one person to practice and for a few years, it was his special place. Being eleven, that had changed a year ago. Now, there were people there when he came.

He was greeted as he approached.

"Hey."

"Evenin'"

The calls never made it beyond a few feet from the speaker but they knew he was deaf and he would just read their lips. Some were already practicing and he gave a swift bow before joining in himself. He felt absolutely safe with these people, though what they were practicing wasn't bending but chi blocking.

When they first showed up, Duyi hadn't noticed them until it was too late to hide but they all thought he was there for the same reason they were. They wanted to defend themselves against benders and the one in charge of their training, a woman they called Commander, was fresh out of training herself. She had come to the city to spread the ideals of nonbenders being strong and powerful as well. At first, she hadn't liked Duyi because he wasn't recruited by her and was rather young but once the group had found out he was deaf, they naturally assumed he wouldn't be able to bend, if he did have the ability, and thus needed to learn to defend himself just as they did.

He found it fun and exciting. He wasn't only learning how to block another's chi but also how to defend himself from having those points blocked on himself. Chi blocking also worked on normal people, meaning it wasn't strange for him to be affected by it. The affects usually wore off before his morning practice in his household so after he had realized that, nothing prevented him from coming every night he could. He felt lucky that they only practiced at night, because it wasn't popular with the city's idolization of benders, and during the day, none of them would ever see him.

Instead of asking his name, they began calling him Post because he would literally stand there or continue on with what he was doing until someone grabbed his attention. They all had their little code names, like Rhinobear or Arrowhead, but who they were and what they did during the day became irrelevant. He didn't have to be Duyi Bei Fong or Hidden Avatar Duyi Bei Fong, just Post the deaf boy. Never in his whole life did he like being deaf as much.

When Commander came in, the atmosphere changed. Everyone lined up in a block as quickly as possible and Duyi was not excused if he hesitated. He quickly followed the others' lead and held at attention. Though he could not hear the Commander, he could catch some of what she said on his own.

"Good even-g, brother and sisters. Your pr- greatly influenced your community and ben- the or-zation as a -ole. Be- part of the anti-bender army, I can only ask that you con-d- join-g us. I cannot force you but as always, we wi- continue practice-g our art."

There were three main reasons he usually missed syllables. The first was that he wasn't close enough to determine Ls, Rs, Ds or Ss. The second was if there wasn't enough light, he wasn't going to get to see the difference between some of the vowels or the slurs that were part of the Earth Kingdom accent. The third was the person speaking would turn away from him to where he couldn't see their mouth anyway. His main problem with Commander was her accent slurred many syllables and vowels together, mainly the 'in' in 'ing.'

His next problem was with her shouting commands. He wouldn't be able to look at her at times and he had to react quickly so he instead watched everyone else around him. He always made sure there were people on every point of his compass and that was the main reason he could 'breathe' with the others.

Chi blocking dealt with pressure points but the basic skills were taught under the concept of breathing and moving as a whole. Thus, every practice began with the entire group walking through the basics before splitting off into groups and practicing a piece of it. In groups, they would target the spots but avoid the vital ones, such as the chest and head. The later were for shadow practice only and advised for use only when one's life was in danger.

Otherwise, the hits themselves didn't need to be particularly powerful. They needed to be quick and accurate and the individual needed to be able to get in and get out. The biggest downfall was that the chi blockers had to get very close to their target and if they couldn't get in their opponent's space or out of it, they were in trouble. Some benders were learning to deal with the pain of chi blocking and attack in any way they could. Practice also tried to imitate what a bender would do in that kind of situation.

Duyi was almost always paired up with the same person: Chuntao. She was the closest person to his size and height but she was more enthusiastic about the martial art so their skills were about evenly matched, for he had a head start from all his bending. She was five years his senior and he had caught bits and pieces of conversations of her possibly becoming married but she blatantly turned them all down. She had five other siblings to consider and if she married and left, her father would not be able to support them all, much less pay for a wedding.

In short, she had a lot of frustration for a girl and it was present nearly every time they practiced. By the end, she would calm down, be able to return home and make it through another day but not before she had Duyi a bit defeated. She would get him one way or another: using headlocks or slamming him into the ground to further increase her Chi blocking potential. All were legal and Duyi used them here and there himself but not as much as his spirited competitor.

Towards the end, everyone would randomly find someone else to fight just to be sure they didn't get used to the styles of just one person. Hit hit hit hit, block, hit, retreat, change up, hit hit hit was his favorite combination to test the waters with. As soon as he found out the person's style and readjusted, he took off in whatever he could get in. Usually, he was quick to adjust because of his bending and would have to make a few mistakes here and there so he still maintained his deaf-boy-needing-protection act. He wanted to fight Commander but that was not allowed, or at least not until she thought everyone had passed her expectations.

Just as the sun's rays were spotted coming over the horizon, it was time to disperse. Duyi went to say thank you and goodbye to his sparring partners using hand signs he and his brothers had developed. Everyone had quickly adopted them and if there had been time, he would have taught them more but there usually never was.

Chuntao held his attention for a minute, writing into his hand. That was the easiest way for him to communicate with his nightly friends.

'I am starting a new job today,' is what the characters spelt out.

He smiled and wrote back. 'Great. Good luck today and don't be late.'

She grinned. 'Of course. Who do you think I am?'

He couldn't help it. 'Headlock Champ.'

He ran off before she could hit him. She would get him back for it later but he could treasure his small victory. He quickly made it back home, knowing he had to be "in bed" before his grandfather came knocking at all of their doors, roughly beginning early morning lessons. He would wait until the sun had been up for an hour and though it wasn't much recovery time, it was all he had until study hours where he could be left alone.

He made it back before the early morning guard change, getting over by climbing one of the neighbor's roofs and jumping over the wall into the garden. Looking up, his parents' curtains were still drawn so he was safe to continue. He climbed through his window after checking his room for anyone, just in case, and then put his night bag down to undress. Stuffing his clothes back into the bag, he hid them under his closet and quickly put on his nightclothes. Sometimes, someone would come in at this point and think he just got up but this was not one of those days and he laid down gratefully.

He felt where Chuntao had cut off the chi in his right elbow and placed that spot between his legs to get it warm. He felt that if it was warmer, it helped the chi flow again and if he stayed like that long enough, it might have an affect. He never felt sleepy in that time but the relaxation seemed to be enough to get him up and moving again.

"Duyi. He's coming."

A spirit warned him, as usual, that his grandfather was about to enter the room. They left him alone when he was bending and Chi blocking unless to catch conversations he might want to hear but any time in the house was free game.

"You okay? Healed up enough?"

Not enough but it had to be enough. He curled up a little bit tighter as his grandfather opened the door and came over. He touched him on his back to wake him up. To keep up that nothing had happened, Duyi acted as if he was tired and wanted to sleep longer but his grandfather rolled him over to face him and gave him a look that said if he wasn't up and out in five minutes, he was going to face his mighty earth bending wraith. What he actually said was:

"Get up or horse squats for an hour."

Added onto that would be an hour's worth of training his brothers would have gone through without him, or "special lessons" with the gruff man. Even Enlai got up to the threat, though it was obvious he had been spending the better part of the night reading.

After he was alone, he got dressed and went out to the garden to practice. Because he was the eldest home, he was on the far left, Enlai was in the middle because of his lack of skill, and Delun was at the other end. They followed their grandfather through the forms before running around the entire estate five times and beginning strengthening exercises. Then would follow sparing and the boys took their turn with grandfather: today Duyi was with Delun. Poor Enlai was shouted at repeatedly for tripping and making mistakes but Duyi couldn't hear them and Delun remained stoic.

At the end, they would stretch each other out and go have breakfast in the main hall after a quick wipe down and a change of clothes. Their parents headed the table and the boys filled in the sides, Dulen on his mother's side facing Duyi and their grandfather filling in at the other end facing his daughter. Their parents were asking about what each of them was going to accomplish today, something Duyi was excluded from answering. He read what he could.

"Delun, how are your studies?" their mother asked.

"This morning, I am covering the hundred year war at last, testing my geometry, and readying myself for whatever else my tutors have in store."

"Enlai?" their father asked.

"Well, I have to redo my calculations from yesterday because I realized some of them are wrong. Then I have to adjust my business to make a bigger profit without-"

The entire room went to where the servers were coming in. Turning, Duyi realized why they had.

It was Chuntao and she had tripped and nearly dropped her pot, staring from him to his parents. He acted as if nothing was wrong but was surprised to see her. A quick glance about the room told him that no one had realized what was truly going on. The head chef scolded her and pulled her up, pushing her into the room. She regained herself and began to serve as if nothing happened.

Delun motioned across the table. 'New doe-eyed. Curvy.' He was grinning.

Duyi responded with, 'Oh, so you like girls now?'

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Enlai motioning 'Good one.'

Delun eked out a defense. 'Well we are expected to marry. Does not hurt to look.'

'Fool.'

His brother didn't respond and his grin vanished. His mother was the cause, giving them a steely look. She didn't like the signing because she wanted to encourage Duyi to use his voice. Unfortunately, he was always too loud to be polite.

But after that small moment, he no longer paid attention to the conversation of what Enlai was going to do with the small business he was given as part of his training. The meal went by quickly and then the boys were off to their study time. He waited in his room for a good half hour before retreating to the kitchen in search of his hopefully still employed friend.

In the lull of between meals and cleaning, Chuntao was in the corner peeling vegetables. She wasn't fired, yet, but it looked like she had already gotten her lecture. He carefully looked around before throwing a pebble into the room. He ducked out of view as a few of the kitchen hands gave the small disturbance a second and then peeked back out to wave. With the recent disruption, she was more likely to see him.

When she did, he motioned for her to meet him, either by coming to him or going out the door. He saw her grab the assistant chef's attention and ask to go to the bathroom and he pointed out into the hall. Duyi took a step ahead and went in before her, bracing himself for her attack.

When she shut the door behind her, she was very angry and held him by his shirt collar. Staring directly at her face, he knew exactly what she was saying.

"What are you doing here?"

He pulled out a pad of paper and a pen and set the ink down on the sink, built for sanitary purposes, and wrote, showing her after he was done.

'I live here.'

She took the paper and pen away and wrote her response. 'You are a Bei Fong?'

She barely allowed him to have the brush back. 'Yes.'

'Then why are you learning Chi blocking? How did you find it?'

'Actually, I have been going to that spot for years to bend in secret. I didn't notice you when you showed up until it was too late to hide.'

She was thoroughly angry so he added, 'I found it to be fun so I kept coming, finding another place to bend.'

'So you are a bender?' she wrote sadly.

'My grandfather is a famous earth bender. It would have been strange if none of us were.'

'Then you don't need Chi blocking.'

'No but I like it there.'

'Why?'

'Because the only way you guys thought of my lack of hearing as a handicap was what allowed me to learn with you. Here, it is different. Different atmosphere.'

She seemed to yell at him. "But you are a rich sob," or something like that.

'I may be in a rich family but that does not mean I am treated fairly among my brothers. In fact, right now they do not even care where I am.'

She almost believed him but he knew why she didn't. He was rich and she was struggling. He was her enemy for having so much of what she just wanted a fraction of. She turned to leave but he stopped her by putting his weight on the door from behind her. When she gave up trying to open it, he wrote again.

'Can you keep it a secret?'

'Why should I?'

'Because I like having friends here.'

'I am here to work.'

'Technically, my brothers and I have never officially been out of this place for anything more than doctor appointments so we don't really have friends.'

She broke down. 'Fine.' Then she stormed out.

Relieved and happy, Duyi headed off to the library. Since his studies were cut off, he had to learn on his own. He loved books and loved his family library so he would secretly take some away and into his room. In between catching up on his sleep and his studied, he occasionally played with small amounts of bending such as making one of the books float under a small turbulent wind or bending the tea he was given every two hours. His earth bending received enough attention so later, in the evening when his family would be watching TV, he would take a stroll and check to make sure no one was watching him to catch up on the rest of his bending.

Today, he had taken a book on music theory he had been struggling with, a tactics book he had yet to look at, and his family record books from sixty-two to fifty years ago. He had gotten bored at following what his brothers did, especially after he had listened to spirits who had lived during the wars and who had lived their lives as teachers. In fact, his great great grandfather's navigation teacher had taught him the entire subject at the age of seven, a whole year of course so he could see all of the constellations. The spirit had also told him that he hoped that he would use the skill, since his great great grandfather hadn't.

However, he wasn't sure he would ever be able to leave home. Though he wasn't watched carefully at home, the likelihood of him being able to go out on a journey was very low. He had asked once, if he could go see republic city, but it was just him and his parents and they had told him no, even if Honghui was able to keep an eye out for him while he was there.

But, would they refuse if all three of them wanted to go join their brother for a spell? He had implanted the idea into the minds of his brothers and was awaiting for their fulfillment. Though he felt bad for going about it in an underhanded way, it would be worth it if they all had a good time. In fact, after his brother's lessons were supposed to be over, he would visit Delun and see if he still wanted to go.

When it was time for an afternoon break, Chuntao was the one to deliver his lunch. He wasn't sure if she had asked for the position or if the chef took pity on her and gave her the "easiest" Bei Fong to serve. Either way, she woke him up with a kick because no one was watching them.

He, on the other hand, was glad to see her and began to sign frantically until he realized she didn't know all of them. He instead took her hand when she set down the tray.

'You are still here.'

She pulled her hand away. "Of course I am."

"Snappish, isn't she?" One of the spirits commented.

Another bumped in. "In my day, there was always someone's ear cocked at the door and she would have been lashed for treating her young master so."

His smiled turned into a frown. He didn't like being called a young master or the thought of lashes just because of a little anger that was somewhat rightly placed. He had kind of lied to her and asked her to keep it a secret from people she trusted. So far, she hadn't had the opportunity to tattle but he knew she wouldn't.

While he had been absorbed in his thoughts, she grabbed his hand and began to write to him. 'You were right.'

He gave her a questionable look. 'About what?'

'They really don't care what you do. I seem to be the only person who you've seen all day. I kept hearing calls for servants to every one but you. That Delun is a brat.'

He tried to defend him. 'Well after I was born, my parents were disappointed. So when Delun was born, they placed all the expectations they felt they couldn't fully enforce on me onto him. So not only does he have double the attention but also double the expectation. It doesn't help that Enlai took the heir status either.'

'Then why are you so level-headed if they didn't enforce you like the others?'

He smiled. 'My older brother Honghui wouldn't let me get away with acting so. Because he was ten years older, he made things he learned easier for me to learn, since Delun and Enlai took the forefront of our parent's attention. As long as he got his work done, father and mother couldn't say anything, though their faces were priceless when he told them he wasn't going to take up the family business. He is in Republic city right now.'

Her eyebrow went up. 'Interesting. And you are okay with telling me all this? I could be a spy.'

Duyi couldn't laugh because he had never heard it and was used to keep the exciting feeling within but he would have done so at that moment if he could. 'Trust me, your morning escapade would have compromised you in a way a spy would have never done. Besides, you can barely read.'

She was shocked. "How did you know?"

He sighed. 'Public education only started up out here shortly after I was born and you are older, yes? Well, most of the older children are usually sent to work as soon as possible so the idea of public education hasn't sunk in as a step up. Instead, right now it is being treated as luxury. Literature on how this system worked in Republic city reflects this, for they are the forefront on the matter. If you want to know how a change will affect your community, you look to them first because they have probably already done it.'

She took in the books around them. She had thought they were being ignored but now she wasn't so sure. 'You're actually smart, aren't you?'

'I would like to think so. I sometimes help Enlai with his homework, if only for him to have someone to explain it to.'

'And the hand signs.'

'Actually, it was a joint effort. My brothers, including Honghui, and I made them up so I could talk to them quicker.'

She finally smiled. 'Okay, Post. You win. I will turn a blind eye to your real life. But I am still going to make you eat dirt.'

'Of course.'

And then he remained undisturbed until dinner, which he had to eat with his family. Afterwards, he would immediately go into the garden for a "stroll" where he would water and air bend in secret with the spirits on lookout. At least, that was the plan until a life-changing decision was made for him and his brothers.

(PS. see my profile if you are curious about updates since I just put up the schedule I am going to try and keep to.)


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